This heavily-modified street-legal Ford GT made history as the first car recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for standing-mile speed at 223 mph. Even cooler: they did it on the runway used for landing Space Shuttles.

The standing-mile speed by a street-legal car record is a new category for Guinness, which explains why a record run as low as 223 mph made the cut. We've seen a Ford GT do 252 mph, but it wasn't being observed by Guinness or the newly formed International Mile Racing Association (IMRA).

The Performance Power Racing Twin Turbo Ford GT accelerates from 203 to 253 MPH in 7.3 seconds,…
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"I've officially run a 267.2 mph and was the first car to break 250 mph, but Guinness just opened this category up," said Bohmer.

The car itself is a monster, outfitted with a fully-built twin-turbo Ford GT motor running over 25 pounds of boost and producing 1,400 horsepower. The body uses a slippery aerodynamic sealant called "PerformaBond" and a custom suspension setup to squeeze every last mph out of the car, which is still technically street legal.

The lack of consistent timing setups and best practices for mile racing have resulted in competing claims and some wild crashes. The IMRA and Guinness wants to correct this with a consistent standard.

If this is a new standard, though, give the folks at Performance Power Racing credit for setting the first record in style by achieving it on NASA's three-mile long concrete runway at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It seems like the perfect place given the orbiter lands at a speed of around 220 mph.

And this is just a start. Bohmer has bigger dreams for his Ford GT.

"The day before the race I did some passes in the 260 mph range," said Bohmer. "We're going to break 300 mph this year in the car."

That wasn't the only record to be had that day. Melissa Adinolfe hit 172.526 mph in a Dodge Challenger and John J. McMullen reached 194.388 in a Porsche GT2.

NASA rents out the track to driving teams, all of whom have to pass rigorous security screenings and abide by strict safety policies. As a place known for being at the forefront of technological development, NASA says they're enjoying being at the center of this new space race.

"They're learning us, we're learning them," said a NASA spokesman.

Is setting a standing-mile time at NASA the new 'Ring time for straight-liners? We sure hope so.